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Sixteen Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 26 seriously injured when the bus in which they were travelling plunged into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Sunday, authorities said.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corp bus was on its way from Jammu to the Kashmir Valley when the driver reportedly lost control over the vehicle at Nichnala near Banihal town on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

"Sixteen pilgrims were killed on the spot while 26 others have been injured," a police officer said. The deceased comprised 14 men and two women.

Of the injured, five were taken to Srinagar, 19 others airlifted to the Government Medical College Super Speciality Hospital in Jammu, and two were being treated in Banihal hospital.

The spokesman said the bus carried 43 persons including the driver.

Army, police and paramilitary forces launched a rescue operation which was joined by locals, who helped to take out the injured pilgrims from the wreckage site.